Fire-escape.



A. P. ,v. STENBORG.

FIRE ESCAPE. APPLICATION FILED $31 125, 1912,

Patented July 14, 1914.-

ANDREW F. V. STENBORG, OF HIBBING, MINNESQTA.

FIREFESCAPE- mosses.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patgnted July 14, 1%}3141,

Application filed September 25, 1912. Serial No. 722,338.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ANDREW F. V. STEN- nonc,a subject of the King of Sweden, residing at Hibbing, in the county ofSt. Louis and State of lVfinnesota,have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Fire- Escapes, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in fire escapes andmore particularly to that type in which the escape is made by means of arope or cable, the safe descent upon the rope or cable beingaccomplished by means of a brake or cable gripping member movable alongthe rope or cable and governed in its movement by the amount of strainexerted on the rope or cable below the brake, a life belt being fastenedto the brake for the support of the person using the fire escape.

The-primary object of my invention is to provide an improved form ofbrake which may be readily attached to or removed from the cable orrope.

A. further object of my invention is to provide a brake or cablegripping member of the tortuous rope passage type which, because of thepeculiar formation of the rope or cable passage, will, in proportion toits size, especially length, exert a strong gripping action upon thecable or rope.

A further object of my invention is to so construct the brake, and itspassage that the rope or cable may be readily applied and without thenecessity of threading the rope or cable through any closed passage. Anda still further object of my invention is to provide means for lockingthe rope or cable when applied to the brake fromdisengageme-nttherefrom.

With these and other objects in view, my invention will be more fullydescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and thenspecifically pointed out in the claims which are attached to and form a.part of this application.

in the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved rope orcable brake in use; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a viewof that side of the device opposite that shown in Fig. 2, showing thelocking plate in its active position in full lines and in its inactiveposition in dotted lines; Fig. 4: is a view at right angles to that ofFig. 3; Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the same.

Corresponding and'like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

The preferred embodiment of my invention includes a brake or grippingmember in eluding a body member of metal preferably cast or otherwiseformed in asingle piece and having a tortuous rope or cable receivinggroove or passage and a locking member carried by the friction memberand movable into active position to lock the rope or cable in saidgroove or passage.

In the figures the body member is designated as a whole by the numeral10 and is substantially cylindrical in shape having its end portionsflattened at one side, as shown at 11. member is provided with a helicalgroove or rope receiving passage 12, the central portion of which isformed in that portion of the body between the flattened portions 11 andthe ends of which terminate at the opposite side of the body member, thegroove preferably extending about the member but once. The pitch of thisgroove is relatively short and its depth preferably less than thethickness of the rope or cable with which it is to be employed.

The ends of the groove are oppositely extended through the flattenedfaces at the ends of the block as shown at 13 and said extended portionsare deepened in such a manner that their inner portions are nearlytangent to the axis of the body member. The end portions of the bodymember are provided with longitudinally extending grooves 14communicating with the extended ends 13 and greater in depth than thethickness of the rope or cable. These grooves 14-, as shown, are formedin the flattened end portions of the body member and at diagonallyopposite sides thereof and form in efiect continuations of the groove'12and its extensions 13. I

The rope or cable, when in place, seats in the groove 12 and extends ineither direction in the extensions 13 and grooves l t. The faces of thegrooves 12, 18 and 14 are all rounded or shaped to conform closely tothe rope or cable and merge gradually into each other to form a smooth,uninterrupted bearing for the rope or cable.

It might be well to note at this point that the rope or cable enters thebody member at one side of one end and leaves it at the opposite side ofthe other end, the interme- The central portion of this body diateportion of the rope or cable passin through a helical groove which,because 0' the deepening of its ends, is to all-intents and purposesformed about a cylinder, the axis of which is at an angle to the axis ofthe body member as shown in Fig. 2.

When the rope or cable is tightened through the body'member, thegripping ac tion exerted upon the rope or cable thereby is not onlythat, due to the passage of the rope or cable through a helical groove,but also to the general direction taken by the rope or cableirrespectiveof this caused by the inclined axis of the central portion of the bodymember. The gripping action is thereby greatly increased and the brakemay therefore be smaller and the groove shorter than has heretofore beenfound necessary.

In order to prevent the accidental displacement of the rope or cablefrom the groove I have provided a locking member so mounted on the'bodymember that it may be moved over the open faces of the grooves 14- Toaccomplish this, I provide that portion of the body member between itsfiattened faces, with a centrally formed longitudinally extending slot15 and a lock plate 16, preferably of metal, has its central portionpositioned in this slot'and is swingingly mounted therein by a screw orpivot pin 17, the head of which is countersunk in the inner face of thegroove 12 to prevent any catching of the rope or cable thereon. Thisplate is so proportioned that in active position its end portions extendover the open sides of the grooves 14 to hold the rope or cable inplace, the ends of the plate lying flush with the ends of the bodymember. In reverse position, the plate bears over the opposite sideportions of the flattened faces 11 leaving the grooves unobstructed forthe application of the rope or cable. y

The ungrooved portions of the. ends of the body member have theiropposite faces also flattened, as shown, to provide diagonally locatedears 18 perforated, as at 19.

The life belt, a portion of which is shown at 20, is provided with. asnap hook 21 for enseat it in the grooves, after which the lock plate 16is swung to active position and thebelt attached by its hook locking theplate against movement.

The apparatus is preferably furnished complete with the brake mounted onthe rope or cable and the belt attached thereto and is installed in thebuilding merely by attaching that end of the rope or cable opposite thebelt carrying end of the block to a "ring or other suitable device fixedin the building near the window. The rope or ca ble of course shouldbelong enough so that .itsfree end, when extended, will reach theground. I,

The person using the device'fastens the belt about his body below thearms, drops the free end of the rope orucable from the window and lowershimself at any desired speed, the speed at, which he descends beinggoverned byhis grip upon the rope or cable below the brake. brakeconstruction, this strain is very slight and the weakest person cansafely escape.

Because of the 5A person in a faint or otherwise incapaci-- tated whenonce in the belt may be safely lowered to the ground, the speed ofdescent being governed by. a person standing below and drawing on therope or cable.-

This brake or rope gripper may of course be used as a means of loweringgoods of all sorts and I do not therefore wish to limit it to its use asa fire escape. k T

Having thus described the invention, what 1 is claimed as new is 1. Adevice of the character described 'in- I icluding. a body memberprovided with an. :eneircling helical rope or cable rece1v1ng groove,the ends ofwhich are extended longitudinally through the ends of thebody,

and a lock plate pivoted intermediate its length to the body memberand'adaptedin one position to extend by its ends over the end portionsof the groove to close the same.

2. A device of the character described including a tortuously groovedbody member,

a rope or cable adapted to engage in the groove of the body member, a'locking mem- :ber carried by the body member and mov 1 able intoposition to lock the rope or cable in the groove, a life belt, and meansfor attaching the life belt to the body member,

said means also'locking the locking mem:

ber against movement out of active position.

3. A devlce of the character described ineluding a body member, thecentral portion of which is provided with a helical rope or cablereceiving groove and the end portions ,of which are fiattenedat oneside, the fiattened faces of said body member being groovedlongitudinally to form continuations of the first mentioned groove, anda locking plate movable to snugly engage over the fiattenedportions ofthe body member displacement of a eable therefrom.

4. A device of thegcharacter described including a body member, the endportions at one side of which are flattened, said body to bear over thegrooves thereof and prevent member being provided centrally with ahelical rope or cable receiving groove, said flattened portions beingprovided with longitudinally extending rope or cable receiving groovesforming continuations of the helical groove, the central portion of thebody member being provided with a longitudinal slot lying in the planeof the flattened end portions, a locking plate passed through said slotand pivoted therein, and supporting means, detachably connected to saidbody member, the connection being such as to prevent movement of thelocking plate to inactive position.

5. A device of the character described including a body member, the endportions at one side of which are flattened, said body member beingprovided centrally with a helical rope or cable receiving groove, saidflattened portion being provided with longitudinally extending rope orcable receiving grooves forming continuations of the helical groove, thecentral portion of the body member being provided with a longitudinalslot lying in the plane of the flattened end portions, and a lockingplate passed through said slot and pivoted therein.

6. A device of the character described including a body member having ahelical rope or cable receiving groove in its face, a cable having itsintermediate portion seated in said groove with its ends extending fromdiagonally opposite sides of the body member whereby one end portionforms a supporting cableand the opposite end portion a controllingcable, and a life belt secured to the body member at one side and inalinement with the supporting portion of the cable.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW F- V. STENBORG.

Witnesses:

G. V DAHLNER, G. A. BERGGREN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington,

